Music Monday: Free Press Summerfest round up

I’m not an all day outdoor festival kinda girl. I like small, intimate venues with small, intimate crowds. And air conditioning.

But Free Press Summerfest’s line-up – which included some of my favorites like Beirut, Cut Copy, Maria Taylor and Ween – was seriously too good to pass up.

Everything about the festival was fantastic and far more manageable than I’d imagined. The food was completely incredible, fresh and … healthy? featuring mouth-watering savory crepes from Melange Creperie, wild game hot dogs from Moon Tower Inn, melt-in-your-mouth Jolie’s Cakeballs and good eats from a host of other independent Houston eateries.

The festival was easy to navigate and even the heat was manageable, as long as you snagged a free bandana (not hard) and kept wet using the water stations or misting tents. Seven applications of SPF 50 over two days didn’t hurt, either.

But the best part wasn’t the music I’d planned to see, it was the music I hadn’t planned on, particularly shows from Houston bands on smaller stages that made me stop and listen instead of power-walk my way to a bigger stage.

And here’s a pro tip: Book yourself a ($99!) room at the nearby swanky Hyatt, because it’s within walking (or biking) distance and you’ll run into half the line-up in the lobby. Or – I speak from experience here – you’ll ride the elevator with Ween’s drummer and nearly door Cut Copy as they make their way back from their Sunday night set.

Here are a few of my stand-outs from the weekend:

Roky Moon & Bolt
I’d heard more than once that Roky Moon & Bolt’s show was a must-see, but now that I’ve seen it, I’m a believer.

Incredible energy, a cast of characters and a Queen/Rocky Horror-esque sound kept me entertained during lengthy songs with multiple time signature changes and epic build-ups. I genuinely hope this Houston band makes it out our way again soon because they put on a hell of a show.

Check out this video from their show at SxSETX 2010:

Sideshow Tramps
I was on my way across the fest to catch Houston’s B L A C K I E when my festival buddy used the magic words to stop me in my tracks: cigar box guitar.

This Houston band’s instrumentation made them instantly on my must-see list, with said cigar box guitar, a musical saw and additional percussion (and eye candy) supplied by two beautiful tattooed belly dancers.

Their sound embodied a genre I’m so into right now – gypsy circus music – but included a country twist that gave it a sound all its own. Their show was intense and about as fun as live music can get.

And they covered Blind Willie Johnson’s John the Revelator. Seriously. You must see this show.

Junior Brown
He was on my must-see list but I’m still impressed by how amazing his show was and I’m thilled that so many Houston hipsters were also on board. Junior Brown – with his almost unnaturally baritone voice and pedal steel/guitar (the git-steel) invented by Junior after he he envisioned it in a dream – a is everything great about country music.

What I didn’t know until seeing him live is that he’s an incredible blues-style guitar player and he does some pretty insane avant garde playing on that git-steel.

Oh, and he covered Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Jump On It. For real.

Here’s an old video of a song that got the crowd all rialed up:

Eastern Sea
The 29-95 stage ended up being my second favorite stage of the whole festival and it had a nice shady spot great for relaxing before diving head-first into the hot masses at the main stage.

During one such moment of respite, I caught a set from Austin indie/folk/pop band Eastern Sea and they had an excellent, full sound that made me want to hear a full show. They were kind of chill, which is exactly what I needed in that moment.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears with the Residents
This Austin band rocked hard considering how hot it was at that point in the afternoon, but nothing prepared me for the moment when the Relatives took the stage. Pure motown, soul, funk bliss. This was the first show of the fest for me and it really set the stage for an incredible weekend of music.

Check out this set the Relatives did with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears at SXSW:

Beirut
OK, this is one of my favorite bands, so I knew better than to miss their Saturday evening set. But this show had some incredible moments that, once or twice, damn near brought a tear to my eye. That is not an exaggeration.

This is my favorite of Beirut’s take-away shows, and it was one of my favorite songs in their Free Press set:

Seriously, everything about this festival – from the music to the food to the over-the-top friendly festival-goers – was fantastic. I saw more great music in the first day than I was able to catch in two days at South by Southwest. Now … someone book a Roky Moon/Sideshow Tramps double bill in Beaumont. STAT.